Hello looters,
Here’s the latest news from the depths of the dungeon!
Beta 2 review
The beta 2 closed a few weeks ago and, great news, it has much better results than previous beta 1. The completion and progression stats are much better!
I want to deeply thanks all playtesters to taking the time to play and provide their valuable feedback :)
Analyzing all of it takes time and I am still in the process, but the first results show that the main issues of beta 1 seems to have been solved, even if there are still issues to correct. However, it's always a bit hard to evaluate how much the completion rates are affected by the fact that this is a beta, it's usually expected to be much lower than for the real game for many various reasons.
Main positive point, the vast majority of players reaching the end of the beta reported to be really enjoying the late levels :)
I already started fixing the issues; the main ones being frustration, confusion, and fatigue. I detail all of this below.
Frustration & difficulty
Neverlooted Dungeon will not take you by the hand and I do not hesitate to take design decisions that most game refuse to do, mainly because they add risks and need a lot of work to be done right, for instance having such deadly traps.
There is a delicate balance to find to prevent rage quits, without over simplifying it and taking players for imbeciles. The fact that there is a so great difference between players, make it really hard to tune; some are completing levels in hardest difficulty fingers in the nose, others struggle with more basics stuff.
For the next beta, I added a new difficulty settings, the "obstacles". Some elements of the levels will be slightly altered based on this settings. It only happens on rare occasions, and mainly on the critical paths (required just to complete the level). The idea is really to offer adapted challenges for all players.
For instance the door on the left is closed, requiring players to find a way to overcome it, is open in easiest mode.
Checkpoints & shortcuts
In Neverlooted Dungeon, players are expected to explore with caution, and some traps really are treacherous. But they are all detectable with visual and audio clues, and players are expected to spot most of them. But sometimes you get caught, and you will continue the adventure as a new looter from the last firecamp you visited. You will need to find the previous looter corpse and loot it to get your stuff back. This automatically creates a lot of potential frustration sequences, especially because you are "naked" again and must be particularly cautious.
However, the game is not reset, so the enemies are still dead and traps are still triggered, making this recovery run much easier. But I need to carefully design the checkpoint locations and shortcuts, so dying is well integrated and not a main frustration point. For instance in beta 1, most player would miss one important checkpoing and die far from it, and died again on the way to the corpse, entering a frustration cycle leading to rage quits. I already improved this a lot in beta 1 but it looked it still require a bit of work on some areas, so I already worked them again for beta 3.
Confusion & Maps
In Neverlooted Dungeon, there is not automatic maps, no minimap, no gps, no radar, no objective markers. So I need to subtly guide players and carefully design the levels with landmarks, consistency, navigation, so players can find their way.
You will find maps, inspired by Thief design, for instance the castle evacuation map. This was a main addition in beta 2 and really helped players, but it was still not sufficient for some. So for next beta I already added a "you are here" marker, and reworked some maps that were reported to be not clear enough, that improve this all without degrading the map design concept.
I also subtly reworked some area, some colors, to make the areas even more readable and memorable to help with navigation.
Swimming
I received a lot of feedback from players regarding the underwater sections; some find them very difficult, particularly because some sections stack too much difficulties (low visibility, maze-like paths, oxygen management, ambushed enemies). I reworked most of these sections to make them less difficult, and I also increased the base oxygen duration. I also improved magic items (potions and belts) to provide a speed boost in addition to the oxygen bonus. Finally, I created glowing aquatic plants in certain areas to improve visibility. But be warned, you will still face a challenge, and these plants are handy for hiding stuff ... ;)
Ropes & Ladders
I reworked the ropes and ladders to make them more reliable. The player is now "stuck" and can only break free by jumping, which prevents accidental falls. There were also a few minor bugs with the rope, which have been fixed. (Well, there is still a minor issue that breaks the "stuck" in some rare occasion, and I am working on it, but it's already much better.)
There is nothing wrong in this screenshot, nothing to see, you can move on...
Light & Shields
Since you are progressing through a dark and dangerous dungeon, it's important to be well lit. You will need a torch or another light source to see correctly, but this makes your left hand occupied, and shields are hard to use without a light source. There were already items for this, like the ring of light, but I revised its availability and strength to make it a truly viable alternative.
Area 6 reworked
Since the end of beta 2, I already started the polish work on the rest of the game, notably on Area 6.
I added a super cool intro area and reworked the existing ones to address the major issues, based on the feedback from other levels, to anticipate and correct this one, particularly frustration, guidance, checkpoints, etc. It went quite quickly, and I've already updated the current beta to include this level for testing; I already started receiving some positive feedback.
Note that a part of this level has a little "gimmick," and I also want to test it, whether it's understood and accepted by players or found too frustrating. Apparently, it's going ok, but I am waiting for more feedback.
Area 8 reworked
In February, I also started and almost finished working on the last major area, Area 8, to prepare the last beta that will contains all levels.
It's an area I find particularly cool, full of surprises, and I hope to get a lot of positive feedback on it when the game is released. I have almost completed the work pass on it, and it will soon be tested in an upcoming beta.
Cut Area 7
You are probably thinking "But, Arnaud, you just jumped from area 6 to 8, can't you count?".
Well, I decided to cut area 7.
It was a pretty cool area, great atmosphere, with a great music too, but given the issues raised during previous betas, I estimated the necessary changes were far too significant and would require way too much reworking to simply make the level "ok". This level was a transitional one and not fully necessary in narration, with quite a few underwater sections and water puzzles that could be very frustrating. So I decided to remove it and focus on the other levels to make sure the game can actually be released in the coming months and that the main content is in its best shape. This is the second complete level I removed; we will see what happens to them later. Maybe they will make a come back in an update, or a future game, who knows?
Random screenshots
Here are a bunch of screenshots of what is to come. It's a bit random to limit spoiling the areas and progression.
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Roadmap
The polishing is almost finished. I am currently finalizing the last major area and preparing a beta version that will include all the main levels. I still need to revise the (small) final area and the ending of the game, and make a significant overhaul of the narrative, dialogue, and text. Once I validate all texts, I will start working on the localization. Then I will need to integrate and test it. I will also need to continue fixing bugs, improving performance, and addressing the issues raised by the beta. There are thousands of things I would still like to add or improve, but I am trying to maintain a strict roadmap to ensure we actually reach release on day. I will do as much of this as possible during the short "intensive marketing" period that will happens before the release; we will see how much make it in the game. I am not going to announce any dates yet, but we are really close.
Thanks for reading, I hope you I got you excited for the upcoming release. :)
See you soon,
Arnaud